Mining Claims and Sites on Federal Lands

Mining Claims and Sites on Federal Lands

Cover photo: BLM historical database Inside photos: Ron Landberg

Editing by Kathy Rohling, layout and design by Janine Koselak BLM National Science and Technology Center P-048 Online version revised 05/11

Foreword

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administers over 258 million acres of public lands and 700 million acres of subsurface minerals nationwide. BLM is responsible for the management of these lands, their resources, and their various values, with focus placed on what will best serve the needs of the American people. Management is based upon the principles of multiple use and sustained yield--a combination of uses that takes into account the long-term needs of future generations for renewable and nonrenewable resources. These resources include recreation, range, timber, minerals, watershed, fish and wildlife habitat, and natural, scenic, scientific, and cultural values.

The Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) of 1976 launched a new era for public land management in America. The Act provides that the public lands remain under the stewardship of the Federal Government, unless disposal is in the national interest, and that their resources be managed under a multiple-use concept that will best meet the present and future needs of the American people. This pamphlet provides information on one facet of one of these multiple uses: activities under the General Mining Law of 1872, as amended.

i

Contents

Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Explanation of "Discovery" . . . . . . 3

Locatable Minerals . . . . . . . . . 3 Discovery of a Valuable Mineral Deposit . . . . . . . . . 4 Explanation of "Location" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Mining Claims and Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Lode Claims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Placer Claims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Mill Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Tunnel Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Federal Lands Open to Mining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Staking a Mining Claim or Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Recording a Mining Claim or Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Maintenance of a Mining Claim or Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Annual Assessment Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Surface Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Mineral Patents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 BLM Land and Mineral Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Sources of Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Geology and Minerals, Topographic Maps, and Mining Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 USDI Bureau of Land Management State Offices . . . . 33 USDA Forest Service Regional Offices . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

iii

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download